Example Based: each chapter begins with a motivating problem.
The solution to each problem is ''discovered" by reasoning from first principles
and intuition. Only then is the theory necessary to generalize the solution
presented.

Software Tools: provided with the book is a disk that contains
the source code for programs to solve multiple class open and closed queuing
network models with load dependent servers. In addition, an educational
version of QSolver/1, a PC based capacity planning software package
is provided.

Book Reviews:

"When even the most educated guesswork doesn't cut it anymore, Capacity
Planning and Performance Modeling is the book to turn to. The first beauty
of this book is that the mathematical modeling is neither obscure nor loose-fitting.
Throughout the authors tell you how they've related the models to the real
world and why the fit should be pretty accurate. More remarkable, they
explain it all clearly, without assuming that the readers have extraordinary
theoretical knowledge of computer performance issues." --- Wlater Zintz
(UnixWorld's Open Computing, July 1994)

"They (the authors) understand that performance evaluation has evolved
to a set of critical standard practices. They understand that the older
methods must extend to sprawling networks of machines, and they go to considerable
effort to demonstrate how this works. They understand that the standard
practices of today are the foundation for continued improvement of models,
algorithms, and theory for the world of business process that will be the
focus of information technology in the future." --- Peter J. Denning,
former President of the ACM (from the foreword).

"The book is intended for use as a textbook or for further individual
professional development. It would be valuable for professionals working
in the area of capacity planning, performance analysis, and system management."
--- Capacity Management Review, September 1994.